Community Health Facilitator

Job Description
Do you have a passion for public health? Can you see yourself co-presenting​ ​an HIV information session with a Kenyan Community Health Promoter (CHP) counterpart to mothers gathered under the shade of a mango tree? Can you envision walking to the local market to buy beans, corn, and peanuts, and being greeted in Kiswahili by a group of youth from the health club you co-facilitate? If so, Peace Corps seeks applicants like you with the dedication, flexibility, and resiliency to respond to community needs and support public health initiatives in Western Kenya.

In partnership with the Kenyan Ministry of Health, Peace Corps Kenya developed the Community Health Project in which Volunteers work in collaboration with their counterparts and host communities in four focus areas:

1. Malaria Prevention
2. Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health
3. Supporting Community Health Promoters (CHPs)
4. HIV/AIDS Prevention, Treatment and Care

Community Health Facilitators work within governmental health clinics, NGOs, schools, and community-based organizations. Together with their local CHP counterparts and partner institutions, Volunteers serve as co-facilitators and community health educators, supporting capacity-building efforts among community health workers to improve health outcomes in their communities. Through home visits, health talks, and other community-based activities, Volunteers work side-by-side with community members on HIV and malaria prevention with a focus on youth, pregnant women, and children.

On a typical workday, Community Health Facilitators and their CHP counterparts may conduct the following types of activities:

• Co-training and supporting community-based health organizations that advocate for positive social behavior change, addressing diseases such as malaria and HIV/AIDS, which are top priorities in Kenya.

• Co-facilitating evidence-based interventions that promote positive health outcomes on issues such as safe motherhood and neonatal and child health.

• Collaborating with community leaders to conduct needs assessments, identify community public health challenges, and find sustainable local solutions.

As with all Peace Corps programs, flexibility and a positive attitude are important for this project. Volunteers must be active in finding their niche and identifying where their strengths can be most useful​.​ They may set their own work schedules, with activities that may occur on weekends, in the evenings, and at various locations in the community. Volunteers are trained to use Peace Corps assessment tools to identify and respond to community needs. Their secondary projects may include activities such as planting kitchen gardens, organizing youth sports and camps, and supporting health education activities in schools.

Peace Corps Kenya partners with community counterparts to promote girls' education and empowerment, and Volunteers are trained on the realities of the societal roles of men and women in Kenya. Together with their Kenyan counterparts, they have the opportunity to co-implement development activities focused on women, men, girls, and boys that are contextually and culturally appropriate, co-facilitating empowerment programs to support both girls and boys in exploring a new paradigm together.

Required Skills
Qualified candidates will have one or more of the following criteria:

• Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science degree in any field

Desired Skills
The most successful candidates will have one or more of the following relevant qualifications:

• BA/BS degree or minor in Nutrition, Health, Nursing, Social Work, Epidemiology, Dietetics, or Community Mobilization

• Master of Public Health degree or Master of Arts/Master of Science degree in Public Health

• Certified Physician Assistant or Public Health Nurse with expressed interest in public/community health

• RN, LPN, LVN Nursing Degree or Diploma, or other post-grad health/medical degree

• Prior experience working in Maternal & Child Health, HIV/AIDS prevention, Social Work, or Nutrition

• Volunteer or work experience or coursework in a public health-related field, e.g. HIV/AIDS outreach, sexual and reproductive health education, maternal and child health, contraception and/or family planning counseling

• Experience with youth development, particularly life skills development, promotion of healthy lifestyles, camps, youth clubs, scouts, etc.

Living Conditions
Trainees live with Kenyan host families throughout Pre-Service Training (PST). After PST, Volunteers are placed in rural communities in Western Kenya. Housing is provided by the work partner and may be a private structure in a family compound, staff housing at the school or health facility, or a stand-alone house in the community. Structures vary from mud houses with metal roofs to concrete houses with glass windows, but all have facilities for cooking, bathing, and either indoor toilets or outdoor latrine outhouses. Volunteers may have to fetch and carry water from a local water source up to 100 meters from their home and may not have reliable access to electricity.

Volunteers in Kenya live within three kilometers of their work sites and are placed no more than five hours by public transportation from the regional capital, Kisumu, where the Peace Corps office is located. Volunteers ride matatus (minivans) as a main mode of public transportation to and from the nearest county capital to access banks, a variety of shops, markets, restaurants, and guesthouses. Peace Corps Kenya provides an allowance for Volunteers who wish to purchase a bicycle.

Cell phone coverage is not consistent in all communities, and text messaging may be more reliable. The Peace Corps will issue a Kenyan SIM card, and certain staff will be on call 24/7. Internet is available through cellphone service providers, and Volunteers are advised to bring a laptop to complete assignments such as monitoring, evaluating, and reporting activities.

Kenyans regard attention to dress and appearance as demonstrating respect, and Volunteers must take care to dress in a culturally appropriate manner 24/7. In training and on the job, Volunteers are expected to dress in modest, comfortable, business casual clothing. Hair should be clean and neat, with beards and mustaches neatly trimmed. Long hair and ear piercings on men and tattoos and piercings beyond the earlobe on any Volunteer may have a cultural stigma and could impede a Volunteer from building trust with and integrating into their host community. Volunteers with visible facial or body piercings or tattoos will need strategies to conceal them during the process of integration into their communities.

Food availability and variety will vary by community within Kenya. The staple food is ugali, which is made from maize meal and is eaten with cooked vegetables, fish, meat, beans, or chicken, typically with the right hand. Vegetarians and vegans can maintain a healthy diet, but vegetarianism is relatively uncommon and many prepared foods are made with animal products.

Peace Corps Kenya welcomes Volunteers from various backgrounds in the U.S., and staff and currently-serving Volunteers are committed to supporting them through challenges. Because Kenya has some restrictive laws against certain sexual acts, LGB Volunteers in particular must be mindful of cultural norms and country-specific laws and use their best judgment in their communities and host countries. Staff and currently-serving Volunteers will address this topic during PST and identify support mechanisms for incoming Trainees.

Language Skills Additional Information
Kenya has two official languages: Kiswahili and English. Kenyan Sign Language (KSL) is the third National Language and is the language of instruction in schools for the Deaf. There are over 40 other local languages and dialects, with Luo and Luhya languages spoken predominantly in the Western region where Peace Corps Kenya is based. Not all Kenyans speak English in their daily lives, so Volunteers' community integration and effectiveness in their work is greatly enhanced by the ability to hold conversations in Kiswahili and/or another of the local Kenyan languages used in the community.

During the 10 weeks of Pre-Service Training (PST), Peace Corps Trainees undergo a comprehensive language immersion program. All Community Health Facilitators learn Kiswahili, and those who reach a high level of fluency may transition to a more specific local language used in their host community. Trainees are tested twice during PST, and at the end of 10 weeks they are required to reach the Intermediate-Mid level of Kiswahili. Once they have moved to their permanent host communities, Volunteers continue their language learning with a trained tutor identified and funded by Peace Corps Kenya.

Couples Comments
Peace Corps Kenya welcomes couples serving together during service. For any couple to be considered, both partners must qualify for and be invited to any of the following projects:

• Community Health Facilitator

• High School Math Educator

• High School Science Educator

• Educator for the Deaf

Volunteers in the Health and Education sectors undergo different technical training programs, and during Pre-Service Training (PST) they live in different training villages around the main training site. Couples who serve in different sectors should note that they may not be living in the same home or village during the 10 weeks of PST, and that their additional compulsory trainings such as In-Service Training may be held at different times. Couples who serve in the same sector will live with the same host family during PST. After PST, all couples will live together in their host communities while working at different host organizations.

Because Kenyans tend to expect that whenever a man and woman live together they are by default married, unmarried couples should be prepared to present themselves as married throughout their service.

Due to the country's restrictive laws, same-sex couples cannot serve in Kenya at this time. The Peace Corps works to foster safe and productive assignments for same-sex couples and same-sex couples are not placed in countries, like Kenya, where homosexual acts are criminalized. Because of this, same-sex couples' placements are more limited than heterosexual couples' placements. During the application process, Recruiters and Placement Officers work closely with same-sex couple applicants to understand current placement opportunities.

Language Requirements Information
There are no pre-requisite language requirements for this position.

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